Transcript: Biden Talks China and American Power to Air Force Graduates

Air Force Number 1 Overall Graduating Cadet David McCarthy smiles after being congratulated by Vice President Joseph Biden during the commencement ceremony for the class of 2014 at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado.

Associated Press

Vice President told Air Force graduates Wednesday that the nation needs a strong economy, a reputation for defending human rights and a presence in North Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific to remain a global power. Mr. Biden also warned of threats from cyberwarfare, extremism, terrorism and corruption, and said America remains the world’s top innovator, outshining China.

Here is the transcript of his remarks, provided by Federal News Service (www.fednews.com)

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Madam Secretary, it’s my honor, my honor to be here. And I say to chief of staff General Mark Welsh and to your superintendent, thank you for accommodating my being able to do this for a second time. And to the faculty and staff, thank you for the great job you’ve done with these incredible young women and men.

You know, as we walked into this stadium, I’m often, as you may recall, you’ll observe in the press, I’m referred to as the White house optimist. And people wonder why I’m so optimistic about America. How can any American see what I’m standing before and not be optimistic about the state of this nation and the future of America? (Applause.)

You are an incredible group of Americans. Ladies and gentlemen, I was last here five years ago, and I was being staffed at the time by a fellow, an Air Force officer who worked as my national security team in the National Security Council. And we — he flew probably 300(,000), 400,000 miles with me in the process, and we grew to be pretty close.

But it wasn’t until I got on campus with him that first time that I realized why we got along so well. We both were cut from the same cloth when we were in college. Simply put, we had trouble with authority. (Chuckles.) He confided in me that he was in his class to become a centurion (ph), and I confided in him, I was the first in my ROTC class in college to achieve the equivalent of that 20 demerits. And so we understood why we were so close.

And I pointed out — at that graduation in ’09, I pointed out that minor disciplinary infractions have never gotten in the way of success. And now I’m here five years later, and the man who staffed me then, Colonel Stacey Hawkins, is now the base commander. (Applause.) Do I have to make the point any clearer than that?

But here’s the problem. I say to the parents, I seem to attract people of a similar nature. Colonel, your successor in my office, Lieutenant Colonel Don Clout (sp), class of ’93, he had to march 112 tours. (Chuckles.) My military aide and great friend Lieutenant Colonel John Flint (ph), who was your quarterback in ’99 — by the way, when we walked into the locker room, I thought maybe there was a religious event taking place, because he genuflected.

I wasn’t — he’s probably still sitting in front of his old locker; I’m not sure. But John, who was a wonderful guy, he told me his number was closer to 200. So in keeping with a long-standing tradition and with the enthusiastic support of my military aides, I hereby absolve all cadets who are on restriction for minor conduct offenses, all of them. And I’d like to do even more if I could. (Cheers, applause.) My only regret, when I graduated, no one had that authority to do that for me.

Class of 2014, to state the obvious, the future leaders of the United States Air Force, you’ve had your last T-40, your last triple threat and sliver weekend.

Your last mandatory breakfast — (cheers, applause) — and you’ve all jumped into that damn fountain. (Laughter.) So there’s only one thing left to do: graduate. (Cheers, applause.) That’s it. So Cadet Wing Class of 2014, congratulations. Jim Zimmer would be proud of you. I’m proud of you, and I’m certain that all the people in this stadium — your parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, boyfriends, girlfriends, those who love you and you love — they are more proud of you than they can imagine.

Ladies and gentlemen, I expect some of them to sort of — sort of begin to levitate out of those chairs. (Laughter.) And the entire nation — this is not hyperbole — the entire nation, all your fellow Americans, are proud of you. And I say to all the parents — and I mean this from the bottom of my heart — your country owes you an incredible debt of gratitude for raising such an incredible group, an exemplary group of young women and men. The nation owes you. We owe you.

And Class of 2014, let your parents know what you think of them. Turn and tell them what you think of them. (Cheers, applause.)

Look, all of you graduating today took seriously the chance to hone your leadership skills within a culture of commitment and a climate of respect. Under your charge, the cadet wing put in over 38,000 hours of community service. You welcomed gay, lesbian cadets into your ranks with respect. You took a lead in fighting sexual harassment and sexual assault, including the academy’s first-ever Take Back the Night, because honor is your code, and you know in your gut that no man under any circumstance other than self-defense ever has a right to raise a hand to a woman. That is the definition of honor. (Applause.) It’s a matter of honor.

And the country’s looking to you all. It was your class that took special care to make sure the honor code was part of your moral fabric, not just a set of rules but a way of life. And a lot has changed since I was here five years ago. Because of the valor and the incredible sacrifice of your comrade-in-arms that have gone before you, we’ve been able to end the war in Iraq, and in Afghanistan we’re bringing America’s longest war in our history to a responsible end.

As the president said yesterday — (applause) — by the beginning of next year, we’ll have fewer than 10,000 U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan. They will be focused on two explicit missions: training Afghan forces and operations against the remnants of al-Qaida. And by the end of 2016, we will draw down to a normal embassy presence in Kabul, with a security assistance component just like in Iraq.

Our warriors are finally coming home, and like all American warriors, coming home with nothing but respect and honor for having done their job. (Cheers, applause.)

But the end of these two wars affords us an opportunity. It allows us to refocus our intelligence and military assets and resources to other parts of the world where they are needed, where we face new challenges. This is the world you’re graduating into. This is what I want to talk about today with you for a few minutes.

I believe we, and particularly you — your class — has an incredible window of opportunity to lead and shaping a new world order for the 21st century in a way consistent with American interests and a common interest.

Think of the possibilities. For the first time in history, the Western Hemisphere is in a position where it has the possibility of being middle class, democratic and secure from Canada to Chile; the Pacific basin, peaceful and prosperous; a new relationship with China, where we cooperate and complete, but where conflict is not inevitable; a revitalized global training order — trading order defined by greater integration and economic growth where barriers are lowered at the borders and behind our borders, generating millions of American jobs, where intellectual property is protected and the playing field is level and where major powers come together to deal with the challenges of our time that require us all to act in concert.

And there are many challenges, including violent extremism that is becoming more diffuse, countries emerging from chaos in the midst of war, challenges to the international order on the high seas and in the skies, emerging threats in cyberspace and, for the first time in world history, the use of corruption and oligarchs as a sinister tool in the conduct of foreign policy.

The president and I believe that all these challenges require the United States to stay engaged in the world, to lead and to be a force for positive change, because one thing we know for certain: If America is not on the field, the vacuum will be filled. It will be filled by anti-democratic forces that’ll attempt to shape the future around their selfish interest, to the detriment of America and the world.

But it’s not enough to be engaged. It’s necessary to have the wisdom and the humility to distinguish between those challenges that warrant us acting alone and decisively and those challenges that require building coalitions and marshaling common action. And it will not be easy. It will take patience and persistence.

But it’s within our grasp. It can be done. It has been done before. America has done it before. In a moment of equally great change, the generation that launched this academy 60 years ago did it. At the end of the second world war, Europe and Asia were in ruins. America faced not only daunting challenges, but immense opportunities, but a nation tired of war and wanting to come home.

There was an overwhelming desire in your grandparents’ and my parents’ generation to bring home every single one of the 12 million forces that remained stationed in Europe and Asia. But the leaders of that day, they knew, that generation knew that America had to stay engaged. They knew that they had to lay the foundation for a new world order, a world order that brought the longest period of sustained peace in Europe and Asia and generated the most significant economic growth in the history of mankind.

They helped write the constitutions of Germany and Japan that led to democratic governments and guaranteed that neither nation would ever possess a nuclear weapon. They formed the most significant military alliance in the history of the world — NATO — out of the ashes of war. They put forth the Truman Doctrine that stopped Soviet expansion.

And in the midst of all the sacrifice Americans had made, they supported a Marshall Plan, a sustained, multi-billion dollar commitment to put Europe back on its feet in order to avoid a repeat of the chaos that followed World War I and led to World War II, generating economic stability that allowed democratic institutions to flourish throughout Europe, so that we can now say we’re on the verge of a Europe that is whole and free and secure. So the challenges they faced were no less than we face. But they did it, and so can we.

And this morning at West Point, just an hour ago, the president laid out our strategy as how it can be done. And today I want to talk briefly with you about the lines of effort we have been pursuing and must continue to pursue in the service of that vision and your role in that vision.

We’ve been working hard to rebuild our economic foundations. Because of what we hope to accomplish in the world, we know it is not possible unless it relies on the strength of an economy at home that’s the strongest in the world. And notwithstanding the Great Recession we inherited, we nonetheless start from a powerful — a powerful position in the world. We are the world’s largest GDP. We have the most innovative companies and productive workers, the finest research universities in the world, an entrepreneurial instinct that is unmatched by any country in the world. And within a decade North America will be the epicenter of energy in the world, not the Arabian Peninsula.

And the way to maintain and take advantage of these great assets we possess is to invest — invest in education, as we have in you, in infrastructure, to make it the most modern in the world, and in innovation — innovation.

You know, I used to give commencement speeches in the ’90s, Superintendent, and the line some of you will remember — some of you who are older will remember — was that Japan was going to eat our lunch, that Japan was the future.

We also used to be told that China — and it’s true — is graduating six to eight times as many scientists and engineers as we have. But I challenge you, name me one innovative project, one innovative change, one innovative product that has come out of China. And I want Japan to succeed, as I do China. But give me a break.

We’ve been working as well to rebuild the moral foundation of American leadership in the world, championing universal rights and freedoms. President Xi asked me, why do we focus on human rights so much, in one of our long conversations. And I said, Mr. President, you don’t understand. Everyone who made their way to America in the first instance came because their human rights were not being totally valued. It’s stamped into the DNA of America. For a president to remain silent on abuse of human rights would be a denial of our American heritage.

Part of building that moral foundation is the commitment we’ve made to end torture and to close Guantanamo. We must not only lead by the power of our example; we must lead by the example of our power as well.

And we’ve been working hard to modernize and strengthen the security foundations of America, retooling NATO to fit the needs of the 21st century, revitalizing our Pacific alliances with Japan and South Korea and others, in short, maintaining and strengthening our dozens upon dozens of military alliances — something no other nation can match.

Secondly, the president spoke today at West Point about how we are redeploying our forces to engage in a more sustainable, effective approach in combatting the new face of terror. Now that the wars are ended, we are able to redeploy our security and intelligence capabilities to focus on other parts of the world — from North Africa to Southeast Asia — to adapt to the changing face of terrorism.

We’re refining our strategy, which includes building up the capacity of our partner countries where terrorists operate and reside, while maintaining the robust capacity to take action when threats are imminent. And that means continuing to invest in the unmatched special forces and intelligence capabilities of the United States military.

Third, we’re reinforcing international norms that constitute the global rules of the road — international norms regarding nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, international norms regarding the freedom of navigation on both the seas and in the air, and international norms relating to sovereignty and territorial integrity, and establishing international norms that are still taking shape but are badly needed in the 21st century with respect to cybersecurity, climate change and global trading.

That’s why we imposed unprecedented sanctions on Iran, to create the possibility to peacefully address the threat posed by their nuclear program. But whatever means, they will not acquire nuclear weapons.

It’s why we stand up against bullying and aggression in international waters and airspace in the Pacific, why we condemn Russia’s violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity and the illegal annexation of Crimea, and why we will continue to support a democratic Ukraine, and why we’re determined to complete international trade agreements to raise the standard of economic conduct in the Atlantic and Pacific, and why we believe it’s essential that we make progress on a global framework for climate change.

Fourth, the president discussed today why we’re rebalancing and deepening our strategic, economic and diplomatic investments in regions that will shape the 21st century. America is and will remain a resident Pacific power. That power has been essential to the peace and prosperity of that region for the past seven decades, and it will be equally essential in the decades ahead to knit together Pacific nations, from the shores of India to the Americas, as part of a security and economic order that delivers peace and prosperity and freedom rather than war and conflict.

In the 21st century, that requires stepping up our economic, diplomatic and military engagement in the Pacific basin. And by the way, air power over that vast expanse, the Pacific, is vital and will have to increase.

Fifth and finally, America has to remain a force for dignity and relief from suffering. That’s why we have to continue to stand up for basic human rights and democratic principles, speak out against injustice wherever we see it. That’s why we have to continue to help and provide people in desperate need and those fleeing war and persecution. And that’s why we have to continue to lead the world in fighting hunger and disease, working toward the prospects of an AIDS- free generation.

Ladies and gentlemen, my sons, like you — one is chairman of the World Food Health Program in the United States, the largest food agency in the world and the other is a major in the United States Army who spent a year in Iraq and won the Bronze Star. They’re like you. They know what they have to do, they know where America’s future lies, and like them, we rely on you.

None of this can be carried out successfully without you, without the finest Air Force in the world. Owning the skies, space and cyberspace, providing global reach, global strike capability, nuclear deterrence and command and control, it’s all — all — within your grasp and duty.

I’d like to add one more thing. In the more than 25 times I’ve been in and out of Afghanistan and Pakistan, I’ve marveled at what you, the Air Force, has done in that golden hour, how you’ve changed the face of the battlefield, saving thousands upon thousands of our warriors in both those theaters.

My generation, the Vietnam generation — if half of the severely wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq had been wounded in Vietnam with the same injuries, they would have died. They would have died.

You’ve changed the face of the battlefield with your heroism and your commitment.

You’re about to sworn in as second lieutenants in the finest air force the world has ever seen. It’s your time, and a modern military needs not only great warriors but it needs a special brand of strategic thinking that can only be learned in the thin air of Colorado Springs. And I mean that. I mean that. The burdens that will be placed upon you will exceed your physical capability and your personal bravery, and require the keen intellect that marks you as special.

And as we end an era of war, your mission may be different, but you will face challenges no less formidable and complex. Your work will be every bit as vital, and we badly need you.

As I said, you represent the best trained, most powerful, most courageous warriors in the history of the world. The poet Thoreau said, “A bluebird carries the whole sky on his back.” Well, you are Falcons, and you carry America on your back. (Cheers, applause.) You carry America on your back. And America will have your back forever.

So God bless you all, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you. (Cheers, applause.)

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